King cake is a tradition associated with Mardi Gras in the Southeastern US. Throughout the world, other places have king cake as well - although the traditions around it, how the king cake is made, and the trinket that is inside it vary.
So here is the New Orleans version:
Starting at Epiphany (12 days after Christmas), carnival season starts and the partying begins. There are parades most every weekend and some weeknights, and individuals host parties, culminating with Mardi Gras day. At most of these parties, there is a king cake. Generally it is a braided bread shaped into a circle, with a filling of some sort (usually cinnamon...but also can be fruit filled, nut filled, cream cheese, etc.). My favorite is blueberry cheesecake...mmm...but cinnamon is good too. Topped with icing and sprinkles of purple, gold, and green, it is a yummy treat.
Inside every king cake is a hidden trinket which one person will get in their piece. In the southeast this is usually a plastic baby to represent baby Jesus, but it varies around the world.
If you get the baby in your piece, the tradition is that you will host the next party, or make the next king cake.
Now that we know about king cake, I need to start learning about Paczki Day - apparently also today (although in Poland, where it originates, it is celebrated on Fat Thursday - the last Thursday before Lent). I have had paczki before, it is really good too....but I think we are all good on our sugar and fat at the moment, considering we have made 4 king cakes in the last week, Dee's birthday cake (happy birthday yesterday!) and his work got him a cake too. I have been a good girl and have only had one tiny bite of king cake and one of Louisiana pudding crunch cake (what Dee's work gave him) because I'd never tried it before.
1 comment:
Thanks for the explanation. And congrats on the self-control. :)
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